Distributions and concentrations of PAHs in Hong Kong soils

H. B. ZHANG, Y. M. LUO, Ming Hung WONG, Q. G. ZHAO, G. L. ZHANG

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Abstract

Surface soil (0-10 cm) samples from 53 sampling sites including rural and urban areas of Hong Kong were collected and analyzed for 16 EPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Total PAH concentrations were in the range of 7.0-410 μg kg-1 (dry wt), with higher concentrations in urban soils than that in rural soils. The three predominant PAHs were Fluoranthene, Naphthalene and Pyrene in rural soils, while Fluoranthene, Naphthalene and Benzo(b + k)fluoranthene dominated the PAHs of urban soils. The values of PAHs isomer indicated that biomass burning might be the major origin of PAHs in rural soils, but vehicular emission around the heavy traffic roads might contribute to the soil PAHs in urban areas. A cluster analysis was performed and grouped the detectable PAHs under 4 clusters, which could be indicative of the PAHs with different origins and PAHs affected by soil organic carbon contents respectively. Copyright © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)107-114
JournalEnvironmental Pollution
Volume141
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2006

Citation

Zhang, H. B., Luo, Y. M., Wong, M. H., Zhao, Q. G., & Zhang, G. L. (2006). Distributions and concentrations of PAHs in Hong Kong soils. Environmental Pollution, 141(1), 107-114. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2005.08.031

Keywords

  • Hong Kong soil
  • Cluster analysis
  • PAH profile
  • PAH isomer ratio

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